Volume 180, Issue 1, May 2019

Nitrate regulation of root stem cell activity is auxin-dependent.

A review of the recent progress in plant genetic engineering for disease resistance highlights future challenges and opportunities in the field.

A Golden Gate-based assembly standard developed for cloning and transformation in cyanobacteria is compatible with, and builds on, the broadly established plant modular cloning syntax.

Ds transposon tagging is an efficient system in Brachypodium distachyon for large-scale insertional mutagenesis.

Degradation of pectic homogalacturonan, but not other cell wall components, promotes stomatal pore initiation, and homogalacturonan degradation and turgor increase both contribute to pore enlargement.

Genome sequencing in potato plants regenerated from protoplasts reveals widespread changes in chromosome number and structure.

A triad of Arabidopsis MYB transcription factors controls the production of flavonols and additional phenylpropanoids that are embedded as pollen coat material.

Sea lettuce (Ulva spp.) strains show extensive variation in growth and metabolism, demonstrating a large potential for strain selection in boosting biomass and metabolite yields in aquaculture.

Arabidopsis, which does not normally emit isoprene, was engineered to emit isoprene, and growth and development as well as gene expression were analyzed to determine how isoprene affects plants.

The Phosphorylated Pathway of l-Ser Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana provides Ser for thiol assimilation in heterotrophic tissues such as roots.

A cytochrome P450 enzyme contributes to the production of 2-phenylethanol and nitrogen-containing volatiles in Plumeria.

Plants over-accumulating vitamin B₁ lose metabolic network flexibility and therefore cannot acclimate to an altered photoperiod.

The plant’s response to heavy metals requires glutamate and mitochondrial pyruvate carriers.

Three related NAI2-interacting proteins from Arabidopsis are critical components in the biogenesis of ER bodies found only in the Brassicales and related structures likely also present in other plants.

The regulatory protein SEC11 binds differentially via two motifs on the Qa-SNARE SYP121 N terminus, only one of which overlaps with the K⁺ channel-binding motif, to facilitate a binding exchange during SNARE complex assembly.

Reduction of levels of salicylic acid in Arabidopsis C24/Ler hybrids results in a decrease in the expression of defense response genes and a delay in senescence.

An integrated genomic strategy delineated superior alleles of an ABC transporter gene, whose marker-assisted introgression enhanced the yield of chickpea by modulating glutathione-conjugate transport.

Histone deacetylase HDA19 acts through SCARECROW to regulate Arabidopsis root cortical cell fate and epidermal cell pattering.

AtMDN1 plays roles in embryogenesis and root meristem maintenance, and its mutation leads to defects in nuclear export of the pre-60S ribosome and in pre-rRNA processing.

A robust pipeline identifies and experimentally validates cis-natural antisense transcripts controlling cognate sense mRNA translation.

Arabidopsis protein phosphatase PP7-like (PP7L) is a predominantly nuclear-localized protein that promotes chloroplast translation and development, thus contributing to abiotic stress tolerance.

Arabidopsis HISTONE DEACETYLASE9 requires both PWR and HOS15 to regulate histone modifications, gene expression, and plant development.

ESA1 is involved in embryo sac abortion in hybrid backcross progeny derived from common wild rice and cultivated rice.

Genomic and biochemical analyses identify targets of the flowering time regulator FD at the genome-wide scale and shed light on the requirement for interaction with the florigen FLOWERING LOCUS T.

OsUBP15, encoding a ubiquitin-specific protease15, regulates grain width and size in rice.

Intronic heterochromatic marks, associated with alternative polyadenylation sites, are decoded by RNA-binding proteins like FPA and IBM2, to tune the expression of key regulator genes such as IBM1 or RPP7.

Comparative analysis of cold response in Pooideae species shows that cold acclimation is common in Pooideae but that this adaptation has largely evolved independently in different tribes.

Host gene-effector interactions in the wheat-P. nodorum pathosystem display additivity, epistasis, differential effector gene expression, and complex interplay of genetic regulation.

Genes associated with stone cell formation, fruit size, and sugar content underwent directional selection during pear domestication and improvement, which contributed to drastic changes of cultivated pears.

Complete deletion of the four MIR167 genes in Arabidopsis using CRISPR/Cas9 leads to late flowering and defects in flower and seed development.

The gene SlHAK10 encodes a mycorrhiza-specific potassium transporter of the KT/KUP/HAK family that mediates K⁺ uptake at the intraradical symbiotic interface in tomato.

Screening of an annotated library of biologically active molecules for inhibitory effects on auxin-induced Ca²⁺ entry in BY-2 cells yielded several new inhibitors for investigating Ca²⁺ signaling.

Two repressors of light signaling, BBX30 and BBX31, are transcriptionally and negatively regulated by the transcription factor HY5 through direct binding to the G-box cis-element present in their promoters.

The Mesorhizobium huakuii molecular chaperone HtpG interacts with the lipid transfer protein AsE246, which plays an essential role in effective root nodule development and symbiotic nitrogen fixation.

ABI5 interacts with MYB49 and represses its function by preventing its binding to the downstream genes bHLH38, bHLH101, HIPP22, and HIPP44, resulting in inactivation of IRT1 and reduced Cd uptake.

Arabidopsis BAK1, a co-receptor of multiple receptor-like kinases, undergoes a proteolytic cleavage process that is essential for its functions in plant immunity, growth, and cell death control.

SUNN and CRA2 negative and positive systemic pathways independently regulate symbiotic nodulation in Medicago truncatula.

Late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans uses effector Avr2 to target BSL phosphatases to suppress plant immunity.

Excessive nitrogen supply leads to reactive oxygen species accumulation and requires the function of major transcriptional regulators to maintain physiological balance.

The sultr3 quintuple mutant unequivocally demonstrates that sulfate transporter subfamily 3 is responsible for more than half of the chloroplast sulfate uptake and influences downstream sulfate assimilation and ABA biosynthesis as well as sulfate-induced stomatal closure.

A BES/BZR-type transcription factor, TaBZR2, activates TaGST1 to scavenge reactive oxygen species and mediates crosstalk between brassinosteroids and drought signaling pathways.

Two high-CO₂/hypoxia responsive transcription factors from persimmon fruit, DkERF24 and DkWRKY1, form a complex and synergistically transactivate the promoter of the hypoxia-responsive gene DkPDC2.

Overexpression of ANAC017 in Arabidopsis leads to restricted growth, cell death, and early senescence due to impaired organellar retrograde signaling and transcriptomic reprogramming.

A comprehensive, high-resolution overview is presented of the molecular, ultrastructural, and physiological events involved in chloroplast differentiation and thylakoid biogenesis.